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Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience

The Scolnick Prize is awarded annually by the McGovern Institute to recognize outstanding advances in the field of neuroscience. The prize is named in honor of Dr. Edward M. Scolnick, who stepped down as President of Merck Research Laboratories in December 2002 after holding Merck's top research post for 17 years. Dr Scolnick is now at the Broad Institute, where he established the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research. He also serves as a member of the McGovern Institute’s scientific advisory board. The prize, which is endowed through a gift from Merck to the McGovern Institute, consists of a $150,000 award, plus an inscribed gift.

The winner is selected by a committee appointed by the director of the McGovern Institute. The current members are: Robert Desimone (McGovern Institute; chair); Joseph Coyle (McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School), H. Robert Horvitz (McGovern Institute); Nancy Kanwisher (McGovern Institute); Solomon Snyder (Johns Hopkins University); and Story Landis.

Calls for nominations are announced in the fall. Winners are announced early the following year, and the prize ceremony, which includes a public lecture, takes place in the spring.

2018 Winner

2018: David Anderson (HHMI, Caltech), for his contributions to the isolation and characterization of neural stem cells and for his research on neural circuits that control emotional behaviors in animal models.announcement

Past Winners

2017: Catherine Dulac (HHMI, Harvard University), for her work on how pheromones control brain function and behavior. announcement

2016: Cornelia Bargmann (The Rockefeller University), for her work on the genetic and neural mechanisms that control behavior in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.announcement | watch lecture

2015: Charles Gilbert (The Rockefeller University), for his work on the function and plasticity of the visual cortex.announcement | watch lecture

2014: Huda Zoghbi (Baylor College of Medicine), for her research on the genetic and neural basis of human neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders.announcement

2013: Thomas Jessell (Columbia University), for his discoveries regarding the development of the spinal cord.announcement | watch lecture

2012: Roger Nicoll (University of California, San Francisco), for his pioneering work on synaptic plasticity, the basis of learning and memory.announcement | watch lecture

2011: Bruce McEwen (The Rockefeller University), for his contributions to understanding how hormones affect the brain.announcement | watch lecture

2010: Lily and Yuh-Nung Jan (University of California, San Francisco), for their many contributions to understanding the genetic basis of brain function and development.announcement | watch lecture

2009: Jeremy Nathans (Johns Hopkins University), for his work on the molecular basis of human color vision.announcement

2008: Michael Davis (Emory University), for his discoveries regarding the neural basis of fear and anxiety.announcement

2007: David Julius (University of California, San Francisco), for identifying the receptors responsible for the perception of pain and temperature.announcement

2006: Michael Greenberg (Harvard Medical School), for discoveries about the signaling mechanisms that underlie synaptic development and brain plasticity.announcement

2005: Judith Rapoport (National Institute of Mental Health), for her work on the neurological basis of developmental disorders of childhood.announcement